This invention concerns a modular seat layout system for an automobile vehicle, this system concerning seats placed one behind each other in the normal utilization position of the said seats and, in particular, the seats of the second and third rows in a vehicle of the type currently called a people carrier with three rows of seats.
In this type of vehicle, maximum modularity is conventionally sought in the layout of the seats either so that they can be arranged to provide maximum comfort for the users or to obtain maximum load-carrying space if all seats are not used. To meet these expectations, a well-known solution consists in using seats fixed in a removable manner to the floor of the vehicle which can be removed from the passenger compartment upon request to increase the load-carrying volume. Again, currently, several attachment positions are provided on the floor to allow the layout to be adapted to suit the users"" requirements. A disadvantage is that the seat thus removed must be stored and therefore requires a place for this purpose, for instance in the vehicle owner""s garage. In addition, it is in general necessary to return to the place where the seat was removed to be able to reinstall it and again provide a seat for a passenger.
For various types of vehicles, it has already been proposed to attach the seats to the vehicle while allowing maximum load-carrying space to be freed without the need to remove the seat from the passenger compartment. Various solutions are currently used in conventional-type saloon cars which consist, in general, in folding the rear seat, either in full or only over a part of its width, against the rear of the backrest of the front seats. Often, for instance, the seat pan of the rear seat is raised towards the front seat and the rear backrest is folded down against the floor to take the place of the seat pan. The volume of the trunk is thus considerably increased and the rear face of the backrest thus folded down extends the load-carrying floor space of the trunk.
In other systems, such as, for instance, the one described in document FR-A-2589800, the seat pan is raised as described above and the rear backrest, hinged on the seat pan, is also placed, resting more or less vertically, behind the raised seat pan and the front seat. The seat displacement kinematics are obtained by a set of hinged links connecting the floor of the vehicle, the seat pan and the backrest of the seat. In this system, with the seat pan in normal utilization position, the backrest of the rear seat can also be pivoted towards the rear to a more or less horizontal position to form, with the seat pan, a bunk.
In people carrier-type vehicles, the removable seats are also frequently foldable, for instance, the backrest can be folded onto the seat pan and the whole can then be tilted forwards by pivoting around an axis located more or less level with the front of the seat pan. In this folded position, the seat nevertheless takes up a space which is not negligible.
The aim of this invention is to propose another solution for the layout of the seats in the passenger compartment of a car, especially the seats of the second and third rows, which allows the load-carrying space to be modulated as best as possible to suit requirements without the need to remove the seats from the passenger compartment. The invention aims also in conserving maximum utilization possibility of the seats by keeping them attached to the vehicle and therefore liable to be returned to normal utilization position as soon as the unloading of the trunk permits this. The invention also aims at offering highest possible modularity by authorizing various folding arrangements for each seat, adaptable to requirements, and ensuring a trunk load-carrying floor level as low as possible. Lastly, the invention also aims at allowing these changes in layout to be made by simple operations.
With these targets in mind, the subject of the invention is a modular seat layout system in an automobile vehicle including at least two seats located one behind the other, that is one seat that will be designated the front seat and the other seat that will be designated the rear seat.
According to the invention, this system is characterized in that the rear seat is attached to the floor of the vehicle by a first set of hinged items so that the seat pan of the rear seat can be translated towards the front to be housed, in a forward position, in a space provided for this purpose below the space which is occupied by the seat pan of the front seat in the normal utilization position of the said front seat and in that the front seat is attached to the floor of the vehicle by a second set of hinged items arranged so that the said front seat can be folded away towards the front to allow the seat pan of the rear seat to be brought to its said forward position and then replace the front seat in its normal utilization position.
It is now specified that the designations front and rear are relative when applied to the two seats mentioned in the definition of the invention above. For instance, in a vehicle with three rows of seats, for which the invention is especially but not exclusively intended, the rear seat is a seat of the third row, the seat that is called here the front seat is a seat of the second row and the seats located furthest forward will be called the seats of the first row.
The system according to the invention thus allows, thanks to discerning use of the space available or which can be made available under the front seat to house the seat pan of the rear seat, in fact the elimination of all obstructions in the trunk which would be due to the volume of the seat pan and therefore finally an increase in the load-carrying volume available in the trunk. In addition, the invention allows this gain in load-carrying volume to be obtained while conserving all the seats in the passenger compartment and also by conserving the possibility of normal use of the front seats. In other words, in the case of a vehicle with three rows of seats as targeted essentially by the in invention, normal use of the seats of the second row will be possible while obtaining a substantial gain in space in the trunk and this without removing the rear seats. For instance, this can especially enable all the seats in the vehicle to again be made available when a bulky object which justified the temporary increase in the volume of the trunk is unloaded.
The fact that the front seat can be folded away towards the front facilitates the forward movement of the seat pan of the rear seat before being placed above the front seat in the normal front seat utilization position.
According to a first possible arrangement, when the seat pan of the rear seat is in its forward position and the front seat is in its normal utilization position, its seat pan being located above the seat pan of the rear seat in forward position, the backrest of the rear seat is located just behind the backrest of the front seat and more or less parallel to the latter. This arrangement is especially suitable for cases where the space available under the seat pan of the front seat is relatively limited. In this arrangement, after the seat pan of the rear seat has been placed in its forward position and the front seat returned to its normal utilization position, the backrest of the rear seat takes up therefore only a small amount of space in the trunk behind the backrest of the front seat, this space being limited to the thickness of the rear backrest as the two backrests are more or less parallel. The space taken up by the backrest of the rear seat can be minimised by making the shape of the rear of the front backrest match the shape of the front face of the rear backrest so that they will mate with each other as best as possible.
According to a preferential arrangement, the backrest of the rear seat is installed so as to pivot in relation to the seat pan of the rear seat so that, when the seat pan of the rear seat is in its forward position, the backrest of the rear seat can be housed, in a position where it is folded onto the said seat pan, below the location which is occupied by the seat pan of the front seat in the normal utilization position of the said front seat. In this case, the complete rear seat can thus be folded away in the space available under the seat pan of the front seat optimizing still further the volume of the trunk in relation to the previous case while still conserving normal utilization of the front seat.
Preferentially again, in the position where the rear backrest is folded onto the seat pan of the rear seat in forward position, the rear face of the rear backrest is more or less in line with and extends the vehicle""s trunk load-carrying surface.
It is thus possible to free a maximum load-carrying floor surface more or less continuous over the complete surface without changes in level, by using the rear face of the backrest as floor and by maintaining the front seat as far as possible towards the front of the vehicle.
Again, preferentially, for this purpose, the front seat is attached to the floor of the vehicle by a second set of hinged items arranged so that the seat pan of the front seat can be raised more or less to the vertical by pivoting forwards and the backrest of the front seat can be translated to place it behind the thus raised seat pan. It is then possible, in a vehicle with three rows of seats, to obtain maximum trunk volume without removing the seats, only the combined thickness of the raised seat pan and the backrest of the seat of the second row reduces the length of the trunk from the rear of the vehicle up to the seats of the front row.
According to other technological arrangements of the design according to the invention, especially adapted to obtain the kinematics required for the various arrangements mentioned above while ensuring simple and rapid operation:
the first set of hinged items, for the rear seat, includes:
a main arm which extends more or less horizontally and which has a rear end forming a head on which the backrest is installed, and a front end attached to the seat pan by a leg link hinged in relation to the arm and in relation to the seat pan,
a pivoting lever the first end of which is hinged to the floor of the vehicle and the second end of which is hinged to the head of the main arm.
the system includes disconnectable anchoring means to connect in a separable manner the two ends of the main arm to the floor of the vehicle which ensures that the seat is firmly held on the floor in all cases when the seat can accommodate a user,
the backrest of the rear seat is installed so as to. pivot on the head of the main arm to allow the backrest to be folded onto the seat pan and the system includes disconnectable locking means to connect the top of the backrest of the rear seat to the body of the vehicle to maintain the backrest in raised position when the seat is in utilization position,
alternatively, the backrest of the rear seat can be attached to the head of the main arm by a lockable hinge mechanism, of a known type, which also allows the backrest to be folded onto the seat and the backrest to be firmly held in utilization position, raised and locked,
the second set of hinged items, for the front seat, includes:
a front seat pan support, fixed and attached to the floor, on which the front of the seat pan of the front seat is hinged,
a rear leg on the upper end of which is installed the backrest of the front seat, which is attached to the seat pan by a pivoting link hinged on the leg and on the seat pan in the center longitudinal part of this,
xe2x80x83this system allowing the seat pan to be raised simultaneously with the movement of the backrest, therefore requiring a single operation to bring the seat of the second row against the backrest of the seat of the first row.
the system includes disconnectable anchoring means to connect in a separable manner the lower end of the rear leg to the floor of the vehicle to ensure rigid attachment of the seat to the floor in all cases when it can accommodate a passenger.
Other characteristics and advantages of the invention will appear in the description which will follow of a layout, in compliance with the invention, of the seats of the second and third rows of a car with three rows of seats.